LBI Beach Replenishment Project Won't Start Until Fall, Army Corps of Engineers Says

by Patricia A. Miller

Preliminary work for the Long Beach Island beach replenishment project has taken longer than expected and the work won't begin until sometime in the fall, an Army Corps of Engineers official said.

"Everyone here at the District understands the growing concern on when the actual construction of the project will begin," said Keith D. Watson, ACC Project Manager of Programs and Project Management Division in a letter to Long Beach Township Mayor Joseph H. Mancini.

The Coastal Storm Risk Management project for Southern Ocean County runs from the Barnegat Inlet to the Little Egg Harbor Inlet.

Watson said the Army Corps is working on a thorough review and evaluation of the project. Some of the steps still to be completed include coordinating with environmental resource agencies and the state Department of Environmental Protection and obtaining beach access and easements.

"Our project team has worked to expedite every aspect of the process," he said in the letter. "Unfortunately, it has taken more time than originally anticipated to get it all done."

Watson said it was "not likely" that a contract would be awarded and construction would begin before the fall.